You may not spend a lot of time thinking about your gutters, but you can prevent costly repairs in the future if you understand how important they are to keeping your home safe, warm and secure.
Gutters protect your home’s siding, doors, windows and foundation from water damage by funnelling rainwater off your roof and away from your home. This certainly sounds important, but many homeowners still don’t understand quite how important this is, and quite how much your gutters need protection from being broken, leaking or clogging. When your gutters aren’t healthy, rainwater runs off your roof to the ground immediately by your house. Over time, or a bout of heavy rain, this will result in standing pools of water, causing a host of problems:
Cracked or damaged foundations of your home.
Flooded basements and homes.
Standing water is a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other insects.
Overflowing gutter water provides mould with the perfect environment to flourish in basements and crawlspaces.
Erosion of topsoil. This is a particularly bad problem, as topsoil protects the foundation of your home. If water isn’t properly diverted from your home, this topsoil erodes, leaving the foundations of your home vulnerable to damage.
Various areas of your property will become stained, including your fascias, outside walls, soffit and any wood framing. Any decking, driveways, patios and walkways may also be affected.
Any paintwork outside will be damaged.
Building products and fixtures on your external walls may fall to rotting or rust.
Your attempts at landscaping may be ruined by the appearance of fungi that can damage flowers and trees.
You don’t have to live in an area with extreme weather conditions to suffer these problems. With experts estimating that an inch of rainfall over the average house equates to 500 gallons of rainwater run-off, it becomes clear that gutters are essential to structural integrity of your home. Luckily, by regularly maintaining your gutters, you can avoid these problems.
If you don’t know what to look for when inspecting your gutters, we at Gutter Art Cheshire have the skills and experience to ensure your gutters are in the best possible condition. We offer a range of services, from maintaining your existing gutters, to providing you with new gutter systems made of only the best materials. We advise you have your gutters cleaned out at least twice a year, and with winter just round the corner, now is the perfect time to have yours cleaned out.
Whether you want advice on your gutters, or want a quote for one of our services, contact us now or call us on 0800 086 8312.